Agency

Looking to calm investor and credit rating agency jitters about energy trading operations, Aquila, Inc. on Friday said that it estimates that 70% of its 2002 operating earnings and 75% of its 2003 operating earnings will come from the more traditional side of its business mix. The company also said it intends to maintain its dividend at $1.20 per share.

FERC needs to take a second look at a recent order in which the federal agency modified its previously instituted West-wide price mitigation methodology for electricity during the winter months, the California Electricity Oversight Board (CEOB) told the Commission last Thursday. The CEOB, among other things, worries that the move could have the unintended consequence of stoking anti-competitive market behavior.

Houston-based Burlington Resources Inc. said Friday that the Investment Canada Agency has advised the company that it will not be able complete its review of Burlington’s application under the Investment Canada Act to acquire Calgary-based Canadian Hunter Exploration Ltd. prior to the Nov. 20 deadline. Burlington said it intends to extend its takeover bid for the common shares of Canadian Hunter until Dec. 3 in order to accommodate the full 45-day review period provided by the act, and will mail notices of extension to Canadian Hunter shareholders. The board of directors of Canadian Hunter has unanimously recommended that company shareholders accept the offer. Canadian Hunter is an oil and natural gas producer, with gas comprising approximately 97% of its production and reserves. Burlington, a leading independent oil and gas firm, owns properties in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South America, Africa and China. The $2.1 billion in cash (C$3.3 billion) takeover bid was first announced in early October (see Daily GPI, Oct. 10).

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman last week told the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works that it is premature to put in place new carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions restrictions on power plants. But the president’s plan will be designed to curb nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxides (SO2) and mercury, she said. The administration’s proposed legislation also will strive to simplify the “complex web of existing regulations.”

In a critical step on the road to financial solvency for the state and two private-sector utilities, the California Public Utilities Commission last Wednesday issued its draft rate agreement with the state water resources department (DWR), which since January has been buying billions of dollars of wholesale electricity for the state. Comments on the draft are due by Aug. 1, and the regulators expect to act on the final document at their regular business meeting Aug. 23.

The Energy Information Agency (EIA) and the California Energy Commission (CEC) both agree there is a bottleneck where the interstate and intrastate grids meet in California. However, the two agencies are miles apart on the size of that difference.

The Energy Information Agency (EIA) and the California Energy Commission (CEC) both agree there is a bottleneck where the interstate and intrastate grids meet in California. However, the two agencies are miles apart on the size of that bottleneck.

California’s power plant siting agency gave unanimous approvalWednesday to Duke Energy’s plans to build new facilities at itsexisting Moss Landing generating plant along the central Californiacoast, adding 1,200-MW capacity while eliminating eight 225-footsmoke stakes and 10 oil storage tanks for the existing plant sitedeveloped in the early 1950s. After a 22-month approval process,Duke officials said earlier in the week they will beginconstruction Monday, assuming they receive a final local waterpermit as expected on Friday.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has opened a new Strategic Centerfor Natural Gas that will oversee a full range of the agency’sgas-related activities.